


My Battery Is Low (And It's Getting Dark)

by fishoutofcamelot



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen, au where zane is alone for a lot longer before he meets vex, i mean cmon. this is a zane-centric au taking place in season 11, no beta we die like zane, you know exactly what youre getting yourself into, zane-typical angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28976361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishoutofcamelot/pseuds/fishoutofcamelot
Summary: Zane's time in the Never Realm is...lonely.
Relationships: Vex & Zane
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	My Battery Is Low (And It's Getting Dark)

**ENTRY 1**

The video feed is grainy, and glitches at inopportune moments. But through the static fuzz comes the damaged metallic face of Zane, sitting in front of a jury-rigged computer setup, alone in a massive icy cave with naught but a broken mech to keep him company. He looks a bit weary, a bit scratched up, and a bit broken as well, but otherwise intact. He displays a weary yet hopeful smile.

 _“Greetings, friend. If you are watching this, then I am no longer here. My name is Zane, and I am not from this part of the world...or this_ realm _, as I am beginning to suspect._

_“According to my internal clock, it has been 143 hours since the Serpentine sorcerer Aspheera blasted myself and the Samurai X mech into this place. I sincerely hope my internal clock is damaged and therefore incorrect, because otherwise that would mean I have been here for 5.958 days. That’s not...bad, necessarily, but it is troubling. Troubling, because nearly a week has passed and still I haven’t made contact with my friends or found a way home._

_“Still, I must remain optimistic. As my friend Jay would say at a time like this, I must remember the ‘power of positive thinking.’”_

Zane laughs quietly, somberly to himself, and his gaze lingers off-screen for a few moments.

_“I miss him. I miss all of them. I miss Jay’s humor, Cole’s helpfulness, Kai’s protectiveness, Nya’s fierce independence, Lloyd’s selflessness, Wu’s wisdom, Pixal’s….I miss Pixal. But I cannot allow myself to dwell on what is missing, or else I will neglect to see what I still have. I may not have my friends with me, but I do have my memories of them to guide me. I may not have proper tools to repair myself or the mech, but I can use what I have to hopefully suffice. I may not have a clear path home or even a way to contact my family, but I do have the knowledge and means to build one myself. I cannot change my circumstances, but with luck I can change myself._

_“I have decided to record a video log of my progress in this strange new land. Cole has a tendency to talk to himself out loud during times of stress, and although I do not understand it I am eager to see if the practice will help calm my nerves.”_

His smile begins to fade.

_“...and...in the event that I do not survive in this world long enough for my friends to find me, perhaps they will be able to find my video entries and understand what happened to me. I know it’s not much, but it is my hope that this will provide them with some modicum of closure.”_

A long period of staticky silence passes, before he turns back to the camera with a brighter smile than before, albeit slightly faked.

_“If my family is watching this, if I truly am gone, then I apologize for not holding on long enough. I apologize for burdening you with another quest to rescue me - this is becoming quite a habit with us, isn’t it? But I will not apologize for getting in the way of Aspheera’s curse, nor will I apologize for protecting the people I care about._

_“My father built me to protect those who cannot protect themselves. But...I’d like to think I was also built to protect those who_ can _protect themselves, but just need a little help every once in a while. You all can look after yourselves just fine, I know that, but I can’t help wanting to keep you safe nonetheless. Whether that is part of my coding, or one of the more human aspects of myself, I may never know._

_“Whatever happens, never forget that I love each and every one of you so, so much. It is your friendship that taught me everything I know. How to be patient, how to laugh, how to love, how to...how to be alive. If not for the time i spent with all of you, I would not be able to think or feel quite as profoundly as I do now. I love the simple act of loving you, my friends. There are no words to describe how amazing it is, the sensation that overwhelms my processors just thinking about the people I care for. And you all make it so incredibly easy to love you. It is the love I hold for each of you that will sustain me in the coming days._

_“For that - for everything - I will forever be in your debt.”_

**ENTRY 2**

Zane is seated in front of the computer again. Some of his cosmetic damages appear to have been repaired, and the mech seems ever so marginally more functional than before.

_“It has been 9.125 days since I first arrived here. There is still no sign of my friends, but that’s quite alright. Rescue missions take time. After all, I remained Chen’s captive for just over seven months before Cole freed me. I have thus concluded that I should allow myself to stay patient for seven months before beginning to worry._

_“In the meantime, I have done a little exploring in the surrounding area, and I have also continued repairs on myself and the mech. I am still...missing a few gears and lack the means to replace them, but I am thankful none of them were terribly vital. Even so, I am not yet at full strength. The only way out of this area is through a very dangerous, avalanche-prone canyon, and although my ice powers should help me stave off the snow I am not yet in any condition to deal with such duress._

_“Yesterday I ran a particularly risky diagnostic on the Samurai X mech - that, to my luck, went without incident - and found its battery to be unplugged. That doesn’t account for all of the other damages, but with any luck it should be up and running within the next few days. I intend to jury-rig its comms system to allow me to send out an SOS to the other ninja.”_

**ENTRY 3**

_“Day 17.849. I managed to get the SOS signal operational, but it...did not work. I don’t think it did, anyway._

_“I do not understand. I did everything right. And I know for a fact certain radio signals can reach through realms, as we were able to hear Lloyd’s rallying cry while in the First Realm - ‘the resistance never quits’, I believe were his words._

_“Unless I’m farther away? Maybe this realm is of a greater distance from Ninjago than the First Realm. In which case it would take a greater power output for my signal to reach home._

_“I have much to think about.”_

**ENTRY 4**

_“It is currently Day 39.77. A month has now passed, but I haven’t lost hope yet. In fact, I think I may be more hopeful than ever before._

_I have made a few changes to the comms device. I used some other parts of the mech to turn it into a transdimensional radio, of sorts, with the intention of boosting its signal all the way to Ninjago. And after a few days, I finally got it to work.”_

A pause. 

_“Sort of. That is to say, it only worked when I hooked it up to my heart as a power source. It was painful, I will admit...b-but it was worth it. The radio signal was able to reach Ninjago._

_“It admittedly wasn’t powerful enough to_ send _messages, but I was able to receive them. It was mostly static, so I couldn’t understand much, but I could clearly make out the voice of Station 81.9’s host, Phoebe Case. I actually heard it!”_

Zane pumps his fist into the air victoriously, free and unburdened, with a massive grin splayed across his face. 

_“I sent out a distress signal, but I do not think it was able to reach far enough for anyone to hear. And even if someone did hear it, they likely couldn’t understand what it said. But that is quite alright. Progress is still progress. Now I must find ways to boost the signal. I may need to venture outside for that, but I am hesitant. I hear loud, animalistic noises out beyond this cave, and will most likely be placing myself in danger if I were to leave.”_

Zane shakes his head determinedly.

_“But if it’s for my friends, to assure them I am still alive, to find some way back to them, then I will face any danger I have to. Ninja never quit!”_

**ENTRY 5**

A mechanical entity appears on screen. Logic dictates it should be Zane, but it looks very different from the Zane anyone would be familiar with. His metal skin is in patches of various material, all of them dented and scratched, as though two machines were spliced into one. Deep gashes are driven into his exoskeleton, with frost-tipped wires poking out, and sheets of metal hastily soldered over them like one might slap on a bandaid. His eyes are a bright electric blue, but he glitches and sputters as frequently as the videofeed itself. 

_“I-I apologize for my appearance. I was a-a-a-a-ttacked by - by - by - giaaaannntt b-bird-bird and used-used-used-used-used -”_

The scrap-heap entity - Zane, apparently - halts his glitchy speech to pull off a precariously unhinged piece of metal wrapped around his throat, and then finagles with the frayed wires underneath. He doesn’t yet bother putting the piece of metal back into place.

 _“Ahem. Testing, testing.”_ His voice, though still very echoey, is significantly less glitchy than it had been before. _“Glad I got that figured out. I speak from experience when I say that having a busted voice modulator is unpleasant business. For instance, Jay once modified mine so that I could only speak as a pirate. It was...frustrating, to say the least. Hopefully it should now be easier to understand me.”_

For a moment, Zane’s sputtering eyes glaze over as he gets lost in his own memories - but then he shakes himself out of his nostalgic trance and refocuses his attention onto the screen.

_“It is Day 59.72. I have been unable to record any further entries for the past few weeks due to severe damages in need of repair. As you can see, I was unable to repair myself completely, but this is enough to at least keep me operational for the time being._

_“I ventured outside as I had planned, in the belief that the cave was interfering with my signal, when I was attacked. Under normal circumstances, a beast of that sort would be an easy fight. But now…well, since the radio was using my heart as its primary power source, I was left in a weakened state. This greatly affected my fighting ability, and as such I was quickly overpowered.”_

He gestures to the disarrayed state of his metal body: the way his fingers fall limp and disjointed from his hand; the dents and scrapes and gashes; the cracked mechanical component dangling out an exposure in his side, hanging there by a few frozen wires; the way his LED eyes flicker ominously; the scrap metal clinging to and protruding from his body like crude armor.

_“In the end, I had no choice but to rely on the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu to help me fend the bird creature off. Its power was….addicting. It took a great amount of self-control to let go of it. As of now, I have left it preserved in a tomb of ice, and have no intentions of getting it out unless I absolutely must._

_“Since that fight, I have spent the last few weeks using Samurai X parts to replace whatever pieces of myself have been irreparably damaged in the fight. Times like this, I wish I had been built quite as formidably as Pixal. Maybe when I return home I should attend to that._

_“Well, I’ll be rebuilding myself either way when I get home. I will have to ask Pixal what she did to make her new body so durable._

_“In the end, my attempts were not successful. Going out of the cave did boost the transmission signal, but not enough to allow my messages to reach Ninjago. I will have to find another way home.”_ _  
  
_

**ENTRY 6**

_“I know it was foolish of me to do so, because I know firsthand how dangerous it can be to let the radio drain my power, but I_ had _to hear from Ninjago again. I ache to hear a familiar voice, even if I can’t understand the words._

_“Last night, I overheard what sounded like an advertisement. The toothpaste commercial that so often comes onto the radio, that the others have taken to singing along whenever it comes on. I have never understood why they do this, as I fail to understand much of the things my friends do, and I now regret never partaking in the festivity. I attempted to rectify that last night, but singing in this cave all by myself just isn’t the same as singing with friends._

_“I remember when Cole and I were trying to infiltrate the Sons of Garmadon, and I had convinced him to sing the Glow Worm Song at Laughy’s as part of the plan. I still have that memory in my archives, and replaying it has brought me through many emotional low points within the last few weeks._

_“...I apologize for being so melancholic tonight. My internal clock notified me that it has officially been 182.4 days - roughly six months, if my math is correct. I know I promised not to worry until seven months had passed, but…no. No, I can’t let myself think like that. They’re coming for me eventually, if I don’t return to them first. I will see them again._

_“I have to.”_

**ENTRY 7**

_“Day 193.1. I have still yet to find another way to back home. I considered tinkering with the mech some more, but many of its vital components are currently being used to keep me online. If I remove them from my hardware, I would not be operational enough to work on the mech in the first place._

_“Times like these, I miss Jay and Nya. They were both such skilled mechanics, often surpassing even myself in knowledge. Well, all of my friends have at least a passing understanding of engineering - we have to, given all the machines and mechs we use in our daily lives - and I know as much as is required to keep up with maintenance of my hardware - but for Jay and Nya, this sort of thing isn’t just knowledge. It’s a_ passion _. And they truly are experts in their field._

_“If I had the two of them with me, I’m sure we would be able to find some way to rebuild the mech into a...portal, somehow. O-or something like the Iron Doom, but instead of traveling through time it would travel between realms. But so far, neither of those ideas have been particularly successful._

_“I wish Kai were here, too. He may not be intelligent in the traditional sense, but he is perhaps the cleverest, most intuitive member of our team. If anyone could come up with a solution, whether or not it involves technology, he could. If he were here, he would likely have us out exploring the area to see if we can find any resources in our environment that could get us home._

_“Unfortunately, the state of both myself and the mech means that my plans to explore the surrounding area in search of civilization have become significantly riskier. I will only resort to this drastic measure if a year passes without any sign of my friends._

_“Where_ are _they?”_

**ENTRY 8**

_“Day 213. Today marks seven months since my arrival, and worrying thoughts of my friends have made it impossible for me to be productive in any capacity._

_“What happened to them? Are they alright? Are they still looking for me? Is there another villain terrorizing Ninjago, and that is why they haven’t had time to find me? Have they given up? Do they even_ know _that I’m still alive?_

_“I don’t want to think about it right now. For the moment, I want to just lay down and replay some old memories of them. My fight with the beast has damaged several memory files, but they should still be of a decent enough quality for me to reminisce.”_

**ENTRY 9**

_“Day 214. No sign of the ninja. Nothing new to report.”_   
  


**ENTRY 10**

_“Day 215. No sign of the ninja. Nothing new to report.”_

**ENTRY 11**

_“Day 226. No sign of the ninja. Nothing new to report.”_

**ENTRY 12**

_“Day 240. No sign of the ninja. Nothing new to report.”_

**ENTRY 13**

_“Day 397. No sign of the ninja. Nothing new to report.”_

**ENTRY 14**

_“Why would they think I’m dead? Everything else Aspheera’s spell hit merely vanished in a flash of light. That doesn’t necessarily mean I died. If_ they _had been hit, I would have left no stone unturned until I knew for certain whether they were alive or dead. After all, no one truly stays dead in Ninjago. Every time we think someone is gone, they are either revealed to have survived somehow, or are resurrected through supernatural means. It would make sense not to believe the validity of any ‘death’ until it can be proven beyond a doubt. The incident with Cole a few months ago only further proved the importance of this rationale._

_“And besides, I am a robot. Can I not be rebuilt after death? I myself have done that once before. Surely I can be rebuilt again. Surely they could seek out my body and fix it, if they truly believed I was gone._

_“No. I refuse to think so lowly of my friends. They are probably doing everything they can to find me. There are likely...complications. Yes, complications. They are working tirelessly to bring me home but, like myself, have yet to find a proper solution. I can’t allow myself to lose faith in them.”_

**ENTRY 15**

_“Day 404. I have decided to venture out in search of civilization. I know that my condition makes this incredibly dangerous, but I have to try - if only so I won’t be so lonely anymore. And who knows? Maybe I will find people who are technologically advanced enough to help me.”_

**ENTRY 16**

Zane’s every movement appears to be a struggle as he sits in front of the computer. His shoulder appears dislocated from its ball bearing joint and limps precariously at his side, with just a handful of faded, ice-crusted wires attached to keep it from falling off completely. There is a massive dent in his cheek, with a jagged hole scraped into the center of it.

 _“My apologies. I have not been able to record an entry in...200 days? Has it really been that long? B-but that would mean I have been here for_ 19 months _!”_

It takes several moments for Zane to compose himself, and reconcile the matter of his lengthy stay in this strange world.

_“Leaving the cave was successful. I avoided any altercations with the wolves, as well as those monstrous bird creatures. The avalanche canyon nearly bested me in my weakened state, but I had brought the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu with me for protection. I know I had promised to leave it in its ice tomb unless I had no other choice, but I feel that it was a necessary evil in this situation. Without it, I would have surely perished._

_“I found a village full of people. They were not as...technological...as I had hoped for, however. I wanted to use my cloaking holograms to make myself appear more human to them, but that system is just as damaged as the rest of me. In the end, my internal simulation software predicted that my non-human appearance would only frighten them. I do not intend to risk that, and have thus chosen to keep my distance for the time being._

_“Upon returning home I did encounter one of those bird monsters, but the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu aided in my victory over it. Of course, that only caused more problems for me. My excessive use of the Scroll had begun to...corrupt me, almost. I found myself unable - unwilling, even - to let it go. In the end, the only way I was able to get it out of my grasp, was to damage the arm that was wielding it.”_

He shrugs feebly with his damaged shoulder.

_“The Scroll has gone back into its Ice Tomb, where it shall hopefully remain. Even if it is vital to my return home, I am determined not to use it ever again. The way it felt, holding it for so long...it was...dark. If one of my friends were here, they might have used a metaphor to liken it to the feeling of having your foot touch seaweed at the bottom of a cold, murky lake. It whispered things to me. Dark, dangerous things._

_“But myself, I would liken it more to the feeling of holding onto the Golden Armor, merely a breath’s distance from the Overlord, that sensation ripping my body apart as we both went spiraling into a torrent of ice…”_

Zane trails off, zones out for a moment, then buffers and refocuses his attention to the screen.

 _“I now know why there are so many power-mad villains in Ninjago. If all of them were plagued by this almost drug-like yet horrific sensation…”_ Zane shakes his head, but doesn’t finish his sentence.

 _“Tempted as I am to destroy the Scroll outright, it is not my place to make that decision. It was made by the First Spinjitzu Master - Wu’s father and Lloyd’s grandfather - so the choice lies with them regarding its fate. I know how_ I _would feel if someone had destroyed one of_ my _father’s inventions without my consent._

_“Of course, I cannot gain consent from people I have not seen in over a year and will likely not see for many more months to come.”_

**ENTRY 17**

_“Day 618. Nothing new to report.”_

**ENTRY 18**

_“Day 631. Most days pass with me sitting in the mouth of the cave, watching the sky for any sign of my friends. Or...anything really._

_“Last night I saw the aurora borealis and mistakenly believed it to be another one of Aspheera’s spells, banishing my friends to the same place to which she had banished me. I ran out into the tundra so quickly that I believe a few of my gears fell out. In the end, I realized the painful truth - it was nothing more than the Northern Lights. My friends still aren’t here. ”_

A long, weighty pause. A layer of frost lingers on his metal body, the edges of which are beginning to rust.

When Zane speaks again, his voice is hollow.

_“Sometimes I wish I were human. Humans can cry.”_

**ENTRY 19**

_“Day 692. I wonder what my friends are up to. Are they dead? Is that why they haven’t come for me?_

_“I don’t know, but this feeling of uncertainty might be worse than the loneliness.”_

**ENTRY 20**

_“Day 727. I don’t have enough mechanical parts to make a portal of some kind, so I tried making them out of sculpted ice instead. It didn’t work._

_“I am not very good at saving myself, am I? I suppose I’m always destined to be the...what was the word? Damsel in distress?_

_“I must resume brainstorming, I suppose. This marks my 15th unsuccessful idea._

_“Jay is the one who taught me that word, ‘brainstorming’. And Nya used to say things like ‘back to the drawing board’. Lloyd once tried to explain those phrases to me, but to this day I do not fully comprehend their meanings._

_“I hope my friends are not dead. I hope they’re out there, looking for me. I hope they are alright.”_

**ENTRY 21**

_“Has it really been two years? If I were human, I would begin to forget what things beyond this cave and icy expanse look like._

_“Forgetting would be nice. I think I would quite like to just...forget everything. Perhaps the loss and isolation would not hurt so much if it was all I knew."_

**ENTRY 22**

_“Day 788. I sculpted the likeness of my friends out of ice, but then smashed them in a fit of emotion. I then sat on the ground trying to piece the sculptures back together, having neglected to realize that I could easily use my ice powers to do so. When my attempts proved futile, I put snow on my face and pretended it was tears. That is as close as I will ever get to crying._

_My old body had artificial tear ducts. It was an oversight on my part when I redesigned this new body without them, thinking they had no purpose. I now have a great deal of pain and no way of expelling it from my heart.”_

**ENTRY 23**

_“Day 788. I’m spending a lot of time in my memories these days, damaged though they may be._

_“To pass the time I have begun arbitrarily ranking them from most to least fond. So far, the moment Cole fell off the Bounty remains at the very bottom. Those hours spent without him, believing he had died - not heroically in battle, but due to our own mistakes - were the worst of my life and even now remain so. I would be so bold as to argue they were even worse than my battle against the Overlord. Then, at least I could die happy knowing I was saving my friends._

_“It is not hard to decide which memories are my worst ones. Wu’s disappearance in the time stream. My father’s death. Pixal’s disappearance. The years I spent as an amnesiac, wandering without a home, family, or memories to guide me. The first time the Bounty was destroyed. Watching Lloyd’s perilous battle against Emperor Garmadon at Kryptarium Prison. The weeks we spent in the First Realm. Those are unequivocally the most painful moments of my life._

_“But it’s..hard...to pinpoint which one is my_ best _memory. I have several memories I love and enjoy thinking about. Meeting the others for the first time. The first moments after my creation, with my father smiling kindly at me as he helped me walk for the first time. Our first night on the Bounty. Reuniting with Cole and the others on Chen’s island. Reuniting with Lloyd after he was released from Morro’s possession. Pixal revealing herself to be Samurai X, and being able to hold her in my arms again after so long._

_“Those are all incredibly pleasant memories for me. But for some reason, I can’t choose between them to identify one that is better than the rest. Is that the fault of my coding, or the fault of my humanity? Somehow I get the feeling Jay or Kai would not have such issues. This must be another way in which I am inferior to the humans around me.”_

**ENTRY 24**

[VIDEO FILE CORRUPTED]

**ENTRY 25**

[VIDEO FILE CORRUPTED]

**ENTRY 26**

_“The only options I can conceive of are as follows:_

  1. _They are dead, and that’s why they haven’t come for me. Not ideal, but a possibility I have to prepare for_
  2. _They are actively searching for me even now, but are just as hopeless when it comes to finding a way to reach me as I am in finding a way to reach them_
  3. _They did look for me, but eventually gave up. It has been over two years, after all_
  4. _They believed me to be dead without any further investigation into the matter of my death, and did not think to seek out my body for the sake of closure. For some inexplicable reason, this possibility troubles me deeply_
  5. _They have found their way to this strange realm, but have not yet located me. In the event that this is true, it is for the best that I remain in place. That is the protocol for when one of us gets lost at the mall, after all, and I assume it would hold much the same efficacy in this situation. As Cole explained to me once, ‘it’s harder to track a moving target.’_
  6. _They never bothered looking for me in the first place, and never truly mourned me either. It is improbable that they forgot me, although I cannot help but torment myself with such thoughts_



_“I have ranked them from most to least ideal. Most ideal is number 5, followed by 2, then 4, 3, and 1. Number 6 is what I find least ideal, and indeed the most unsettling. I can only hope it isn’t true.”_

**ENTRY 27**

_“Day 800. It has been 26 months. My friends would have jokingly told me to celebrate such an occasion, although Kai would insist that we hold off on the festivities until we hit the 1,000-day mark._

_“They have always been much better than me at putting a positive spin on things. But in their honor, I shall try: I am not dead. I have my memories. I can feel and love and think. Somewhere out there in the sixteen realms, someone is smiling. I wound up in a realm consumed by my specific element, so even in my perpetually weakened state I can still call upon my elemental powers.”_

**ENTRY 28**

_“My power core has yet to recover, even after all this time. It remains severely weakened, and I lack the knowledge and equipment necessary to fix it. Enduring a broken power core for nearly three years now, it has been more excruciating than death. I tried to turn off my pain receptors, but this kind of pain isn’t physical. It’s more...mental. Spiritual. It is hard to describe, or perhaps I lack the humanity needed to find the right words._

_“My father Dr. Julien never explained how my power core works. And despite all the tests run by Pixal, Dr. Borg, Jay and Nya, and even myself, none of us can come up with a definitive answer._

_“What we do know is that it’s made from a Chronosteel alloy, imbued with the master of ice’s element and some other unknown energy. But it’s that extra energy we cannot identify. Dr. Borg said that its energy signature is on par with that of a human soul, suggesting that somehow my father created an_ artificial soul _as one would create artificial intelligence...but none of us can quite understand how he managed that._

_“Master Wu once referred to me as a living thing. But am I really? Or am I actually as lifeless as any other machine? Is that why my friends haven’t come for me? Do they see me as a mere machine, a disposable object to repair and replace? ...Are they even incorrect in that assumption?_

_“No. That can’t be it. I refuse to let that be the correct answer. My friends love me. They_ love _me.”_

**ENTRY 29**

[VIDEO FILE CORRUPTED]

**ENTRY 30**

_“It is not fair. They all remain in Ninjago, perhaps not entirely safe, but together. Even if they believe I am dead, they still have each other. Whereas I languish in this other world, alone, because anyone who might look upon my broken face is horrified by what they see. Because I am too damaged to travel long distances lest I fall apart._

_“I sit here, coming up with countless ideas to return home that all inevitably end in failure, struggling to defend my meager territory against the creatures seeking to attack me, suffering from injuries I still cannot adequately repair. Meanwhile they are in Ninjago, they are at home, and they are together. Perhaps they are heartbroken by my loss, perhaps they have forgotten me entirely, but either way they are able to look at each other and smile. They can hold one another in their arms and feel warmth. They don’t have to walk around with scrap metal for skin, and when they are upset they have others there to comfort them._

_“I had never before felt envy, but I now understand why Kai hated the emotion so much.”_

**ENTRY 30**

_“We have reached 1,000 days - nearly three years now, by the Ninjago calendar. I made more ice sculptures of my friends and did not smash them this time, and I gave them ice party hats to match. I have finally, officially, irreparably gone mad._

_“Perhaps it is for the best that my friends don’t find me. I’d rather they remember me as I was, and not as what I’ve become._

_“I wonder where they are, and if they still remember me. Whatever the case, I can only hope they are happy.”_

**ENTRY 31**

In the next entry, Zane is smiling, something he hasn’t done in many, many months. The backdrop of the cave, which has only changed in marginal increments over the last three years, now has a bed sculpted from elemental ice resting in the corner. Parts of Zane’s gi are torn at the seams and repurposed into sheets and blankets for the unidentified entity resting atop it.

 _“It’s day 1,139! I should not be excited about that - and I’m not - but I can’t help feeling so unbearably_ happy _at the moment. Today, I found someone lying unconscious in the snow, and I am currently working to nurse him back to health. It has been so long. I must call upon my past memories of tending to my brothers’ illnesses in order to properly care for him. The process is painful emotionally, but I will not allow it to dampen my spirits. I will try to find some way to cover my non-human face and mechanical parts, then go into the nearest village to barter for supplies that my guest will require for survival. Food, water, blankets...what else is it that humans need? I will have to compile a list along the way._

_“I’m not alone anymore!”_

**ENTRY 32**

_“Day 1,143. I went into the nearest village and took an animal-skin cloak from someone’s home - but I left a few spare parts and ice sculptures behind as a form of payment, so I hope it doesn’t count as stealing. It is merely...non-consensual bartering. And even if I did have to steal, to save the life of my new guest I would do almost anything._

_“The cloak was a necessity. After all the damage I have sustained, my appearance is rather unseemly, especially to those who are not familiar with the concept of robots. Luckily, after three years and 47 bad ideas, I have finally found one that works. My latest venture into the village was a success, and no one was frightened by my presence. It is a wonder I did not think of this sooner - perhaps my logic software is more compromised than I first believed. That would explain why I have yet to think of a way to get myself home..."  
_

Zane ponders this for a moment, then sets aside that train of thought for later.

_“The villagers seemed intrigued by my ice sculptures, and so far the sculptures have acted as a decent currency for trading. In exchange, I have received enough food and supplies to treat my guest - a kind woman named Orla even offered to let me have dinner at her house, but I decided against it. The moment they see my face, they will doubtlessly become frightened by it._

_“Truth be told, my own friends would be frightened as well._

_“B-but that’s not the point. The point is that my guest is now starting to heal. He hasn’t yet awoken, but his pallor has improved, and I trust he will make a full recovery.”_

**ENTRY 33**

_“Day 1,147. He woke up! It was brief, just long enough to panic at the sight of my face, but it’s progress. I will have to start wearing my cloak around the cave, if only to protect him from further fear. Once he trusts me, I will consider removing it.”_

**ENTRY 34**

_“Day 1,149. He woke up again, for a longer period of time, and the cloak was effective in getting more conversation out of him. I introduced myself, and he likewise introduced himself as Vex. Once his condition stabilizes I will return to the village for more equipment.”_

**ENTRY 35**

_“Day 1,155. Vex is awake for hours at a time, now. His leg was broken after falling down a steep cliff, but he trusts me enough to stay with me until it is healed. He says he doesn’t have anywhere else to go._

_“Is it selfish of me to be glad that he has no home or family to return to? I suspect it is very selfish of me indeed. I appreciate the company, but it should not come at the cost of his own happiness.”_

**ENTRY 36**

_“Day 1,161. I went on another trip to the village. Orla gifted me a piece of jewelry and scolded me for being so mysterious.”_

Zane lifts his limp arm to reveal a bracelet made from twine and colorful stone beads. He looks at it fondly with flickering eyes.

_“She reminds me of Mystake, in a way, and the way she looks at me gives me the feeling she can tell how much I have lost. I sense that she has lost much in her life as well.”_

**ENTRY 37**

_“Day 1,199. Every few days I visit the village. My gears dislocate after every trip without fail - and I even lose a few along the way - but I find it’s well worth it. The change of scenery has done wonders for my mental health, if nindroids can_ have ‘ _mental health’._

_“I will be revealing my true face to Vex tomorrow. He is a fine companion, and I value his presence in my life. He deserves to see me for who I am._

_“Still, I am...apprehensive. If this does not go well, I will lose one of the few friends I have left. And if I were to lose him, after everything else I have lost by now...I would not be able to handle it.”_

**ENTRY 38**

Zane is not alone in this entry. Sitting next to him, a bit awkwardly and confusedly, is a human man with a bushy mustache and thick sideburns, clad in tan robes and a straw hat that is rather torn and frayed. He has an animal-skin blanket shawled around his shoulders, and he shivers ever so slightly. There is a conniving depth to his eyes. Zane appears oblivious to this, however.

_“Hello, nameless and faceless audience! It is day 1,217 since my first arrival in what I now know is called the Never Realm, and I would love for you to meet my friend Vex!”_

Vex frowns. _“What is this? How does this work?”_

_“Remember when I explained electricity to you? Well, this is a device that operates through that, much like myself. It can take moving paintings, of a sort, of anything it happens to be looking at.”_

_“Fascinating. And you want me to say hello to…” Vex shakes his head. “I’m still confused. Will you ever show these moving paintings to anyone?”_

Zane’s prior good mood dampens a little. _“Well, it is unlikely anyone besides you and me will ever see these...but in the event that someone from the far future comes upon these recordings, we will be able to leave behind a legacy of sorts. Proof that we were here. A record of what we have experienced, I suppose.”_

Vex ponders this for a long moment. Zane is not even remotely troubled by the silence and hesitation; instead, he merely gazes upon Vex as though Vex had hung the very stars in the sky himself. 

_“Ah. I see. Well in that case...hello, future people. I am Vex. I have been living in this cave with Zane the ninny-droid -”_

_“Nindroid.”_

_“- for a few months now. He’s been healing me._

_“I have also been teaching him about robotics. My weekly trips to the village wreak havoc on the integrity of my gears and wires, and repairs are significantly easier when I have someone there to help me out. As you may be able to tell, I am looking far more put-together than I have in a long time.”_

He spreads out his posture to showcase his body, and he is right; he’s still clad in hasty scraps and there are still massive rusty gashes that would leak out mechanical guts if he hadn’t frozen them shut with ice scabs, but his joints don’t constantly creak and groan with every movement. He doesn’t look as torn around the edges as he had just weeks before. 

Vex nods dubiously yet eagerly. If one of Zane’s friends were watching, they might liken this man’s overall vibe to that of Clouse. 

After a long pause, Zane smiles and says, _“So, Vex! Would you care to tell...whoever may be watching, a bit about yourself?”_

 _“If that is what you wish, then certainly.”_ Vex takes a few moments to gather his thoughts. _“ I come from a group known as the Formlings, but was banished from the village for being different from them in a way they did not approve. Ever since then I have been wandering without a home or friends - that is, until Zane here found me.”_

Zane claps a hand on his shoulder and smiles encouragingly. _“It is alright, Vex. You can find a home and friendship here, if you’d like.”_

Vex smiles. Zane does not seem to recognize - or care - that his smile is more devious than friendly.

**ENTRY 39**

[VIDEO FILE CORRUPTED]

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, this is super rough around the edges and could definitely have benefited from some more editing. Far from my best work, imo, but I lost motivation to write it about halfway through so it's a miracle I even finished it in the first place. 
> 
> In my defense, this is my first Ninjago fic since like 2018. I used to write a whole bunch of Ninjago fics on FFN (and it's all trash, so no I will not share my FFN pen-name), but that was at least three billion years ago and I've been in and written for so many fandoms since then. It's gonna take me a while to dust off my Ninjago Hat and get back into the swing of writing these characters. But! Can't get practice if you don't try. So here we are. 
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading! <3


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